Letter Written on March 20, 1945

In the enclosed story given by Jeannette Marks in the Crypt of the Capitol in Washington you will find that Lucretia and James Mott were two of the noblest of those Quakers who worked for the freedom of the Negro. As man and wife they were as devoted to each other as they were selfless in their devotion to the democratic principle of freedom for all races.

Prosperous in the cotton business James Mott gave up his business as their joint protest against injustice to the Negro. Together James and Lucretia faced years of financial hardship. The Motts were active also in working for the freedom of women from legal discriminiation. Both were present at the Seneca Falls Convention where James Mott chaired the meeting and the famous DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS -- modelled on the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE -- was read aloud to the audience.

The enclosed reprint will be found useful as an introduction to books on Lucretia Mott whose pioneer ancestors are still known and celebrated on the Island of Nantucket where Lucretia was born. Dr. Henry J. Cadbury of Harvard University, eminent for his research in the life and papers of Lucretia Mott, was on the Island a year ago last summer during one of the Nantucket celebrations.

Mrs. Robert Adamson of Middletown, New Jersey, has put Lucretia Mott's name in nomination. It is my hope that you will support Mrs. Adamson and me by placing Lucretia Mott in the Hall of Fame as an inspiring evidence of what can be accomplished when men and women become "co-workers in all that concerns the destiny of human beings."